FMA: Blood Rune
by Darkendmind
Summary: Years after the Father incident, Amestris has suffered Alchemical energy shortages. Cyril attempted to break the laws of equal exchange and fix the energy crisis, and now he and his friends suffer the fate of illegal transmutations. Now, he has a plan...


Chelwood was always a quiet town. The streets were silent, only light from the lamps above gave evidence that life was present. Between the cracks in the cobblestone roads flowed with tiny rivers of water from the recent storms. The wooden roofs above spilled water onto the walkways below, which in turn moved back to the street and into the sewers where it would evaporate again, creating the perfect cycle in this quaint little town.

A cycle that Cyril and his two followers were all too familiar with. Giving and taking, constantly balancing out the flow and movement of energy in the world, this was their very field of study.

Disturbing the tranquil peace of the town, the three made their way up the road, the tallest and the shortest closely behind their leader, whose dark purple coat signaled his presence to the people cowering in the windows. His green eyes scanned the glass along the sides of the buildings, searching for anything that might help their goals and mission. Cyril sighed, smiled, and brushed his hair back with his right hand, feeling the tiny screws beneath the white gloves as it glanced across his temple.

"Ya' know, as much fun as this is, I'm really getting sick of this crap guys." His eyes turned back to his friends, whose cloaked figures continued onward. Adley stood at around seven foot five or so, meaning that he usually hung back as to not cause any fear in people, whereas his sister, Basil, was barely four feet. Cyril leveled off at a solid five feet himself, almost considered short in his home. Ironically enough, it was his height in comparison to Adley that gave him his unusually happy and optimistic demeanor in life, acting as a constant reminder of his place in this large world.

"Well, maybe State Alchemist is too much of a responsibility for you?" Adley joked, the metallic ping in his voice quite loud in the darkened town's atmosphere. "You could always just give in."

"Nah, quitting now would be like putting away a baseball after breaking the lamp," Cyril began to step backwards, shifting around to face his friends. "I mean, why would I stop if I've already broken the lamp? Besides, I've spent a few good years of my life on working for this and you should know I almost never give up, Adley."

"Just saying, if you want to keep going, stop complaining. There's still a lot of road ahead, Cyril, and you're voice isn't making it any shorter."

"You'd miss the sound of my voice if I stopped talking and you know it."

Cyril smiled and turned to Basil, whose hood remained over her face much like Adley's. She was the quiet statue in the group, always observing, rarely talking.

"You know, I think you look beautiful, so why do you have to hide your face from EVERYONE?" Cyril's tone reflected playful annoyance. He knew she had her reasons to hide her face, but he always thought that she only made others more miserable when she did it in public. Adley only sighed and nudged her with the back of his dangling left hand. Basil said nothing, just stared on ahead, much to the dismay of her companions.

The three continued on in silence, watching as strangers slammed windows shut and drew curtains together. The stone exteriors began to feel darker, which surprised Cyril considering how dreadful the place was even at the train station. Feeling the wind picking up, he pulled his cloak together and watched yet another lady slam her window shut. The lamps continued to light the way to their destination; the Filmore Manor.

"Hey Cyril?" Adley's voice alarmed Cyril for a moment, causing him to shudder in reaction to his fear.

Turning back around, Cyril's deep emerald green eyes locked into the inside of Adley's cloaked face. His grin broke out and emanated a fierce white glow onto his own purple coat.

"Need something, good buddy?"

"Do you feel like something's about to happen? To me, its like the airs getting heavier…" Adley shifted his head as his voice trailed off.

Cyril furrowed his brow and glanced towards the shadowy window where Adley was looking. Pausing his walking pace, he felt his legs move slow and gradually stop on the cobblestone below foot. Basil stared ahead, keeping her unseen eyes aimed at the end of the road about 200 meters ahead. Adley shifted his hood to Cyril, who nodded in compliance and understanding. The tow began to move toward the glass, Basil continuing her silent guard post.

Cyril pressed up against the glass, peeking into the shop. His eyes darted back and forth from object to object. Nothing stood out. Adley didn't move close to the glass out of fear for breaking something so delicate with his unseen yet tremendous weight. Cyril scanned the glass again. Sighing, he moved his shoulder around, moving some cloth from getting stuck in his right shoulder joint. A shifting in the robes assured him that the sleeve was once again freed.

"Adley, maybe you're getting paranoid."

Cyril turned and closed his eyes, letting the gentle wind caress his cheeks and pale face. His hair rustled, the bangs moving across his eyes and the tied know slightly twitching as if anticipating something. Opening his eyes to the world, Cyril nudged his friend with his left fist, motioning to Basil. The girl remained in the middle of the street, the wind unaffecting her stance in the slightest.

"Betcha she's trying to tell us to get a life, Adley."

"Wouldn't be the first time she did, now would it?" The steel giant began to walk back, his heavy feet moving automatically and organically.

Cyrils green eyes moved back to his right hand, then to his legs, neither of which felt the winds cold touch. For a moment, the solemn knowledge of his past causing him to lose his happy composure, which turned into a deep sorrow that he had trouble hiding. The air grew tense, and not a word was spoken. A blanket had fallen as by magic.

"No, it wouldn't." Cyrils voice was almost toneless, lacking inflection, "But it's a lesson we haven't learned yet either…"

"You say something, Cyril?"

Adley stopped next to Basil, his hood turned towards the building, where Cyril stood motionless. He slightly turned his head to the group, quietly looking to his friends, the strangest smile on his face, which destroyed whatever mood he had been building up to that point. Adley stood in his own silent stupor for a moment or two before he started to laugh. Basil continued her statuesque attitude.

"Cyril, remind me why I follow a psychopath?"

"Um…You enjoy my sense of humor on long trips?" Cyril's smile widened and he moved both arms behind his head, and he brushed stray hair back into his tie. The world was always so complex that even Cyril had to stop and take it all in sometimes. But he had a mission from headquarters, and he made a promise to always follow his orders when told to do so. He flexed his automail arm one last time before re-joining the group.

Adley exchanged a single nod with Cyril before the two continued on their journey down the road. Basil slightly wavered to Cyril's side as silently as she always was. Cyril said nothing when she bumped into him, instead he smiled, and inched his right hand into hers. His eyes continued forward and he remained smiling, but his mind raced elsewhere, remembering why exactly they both held cold hands.

He remembered how little he actually knew.

* * *

><p>"C'mon, man! Help me with this!"<p>

Cyril was only ten years old, but he was already pushing what he considered to be the boundaries of Alchemy. He looked over to his friends, Basil and Adley, who were busy moving automail parts to and fro. Cyril himself was on his knees, chalking out every single symbol there was to remember, elegant flowing shapes that almost flew off the ground below him. Pretty impressive to know both the details of automail and Alchemy. He looked up to check his friend's progress.

Adley was eleven, and slightly taller than most for his age, with short, choppy brown hair. His green eyes reflected intelligence beyond his years, much like Cyril acted himself. His sister, Basil, was shorter and only ten years old just as Cyril. She instead had light blonde hair that grew darker the further from her face it went, leaving her bangs considerably lighter then the rest of her hair. She had flawless blue eyes and soft cheeks, one of which Cyril had recently kissed under a tree at school, much to both their delight.

"Did you get the Sodium Chlorate?" Adley put down a large limb, most likely the upper thigh of some uncompleted project that Cyril's mother had started before she left for Central. A few wires stuck out around the joints, and some gears were missing, something Cyril would have to fix later. Adley repeated the question, tearing Cyril's mind away from the unfinished piece of hardware.

"I picked up seven grams earlier, like you said. I thought I calculated eight grams though…you sure you carried the five?" Cyril dusted his hands off.

"DUH, of course I did. I also went ahead, "Adley reached into his pockets, "and grabbed the potassium, like you asked." He pulled out a small bag and tossed it to Cyril, who caught it and poured the contents onto a circle within the symbols.

"You guys, this is heavy, you know!" Basil lifted a large box up, Adley rushing to help her. They panted and put the parts down. Not bad for an eleven year old and his younger sister, thought Cyril. The kids gathered around, each-one strategically placed at a point around the circle, spaced evenly apart and kneeling down with their hands on the symbols. Cyril ran a few algorithms through his head again.

"Guys…you don't have to do this, you know. I can do it myself." Cyrils voice was sincere. They knew the risks, but he was almost certain that they would be able to do the impossible.

Cyril hadn't seen his mom in months. Not that it mattered, he was almost completely self-sufficient by the time he was eight years old. He had only made two friends ever since he moved to town, and he wasn't willing to lose them over some stupid idea they came up with.

Adley smiled and Basil blushed, the two looking directly at Cyril. Adley grinned broadly, his teeth almost unnaturally large when he smiled that wide. His white shirt slowly ruffled in the cross breeze of the study, giving him the image of a picture-perfect child.

"Cyril, we told you, me and Basil will follow you anywhere and to anything. Right, Basil?" Adley turned to Basil's section.

"y-yeah, we would.." Basil looked almost embarrassed and turned her head down.

"…If you say its okay, I guess we can do it, right?" Cyril started to grin and soon the other two returned their focus onto their symbols. A blue hue began to emanate from the symbols.

"Remember guys! Even if you're scared, you can't stop, you have to complete the catalyst stage!" Cyril felt energy begin to push against his body, and almost went backwards from the sheer amount of force. His eyes turned to Basil and Adley, who also were experiencing their own feedback energy. He turned his head back to the circle, where the symbols continued to glow brighter and brighter.

"It's working!" He shouted with a smile, "Just a little more!"

Cyril had told them about an idea of his, where they could defy the laws of equivalent exchange through sheer force and an understanding where energy came from. After that, it lead to Adley's idea, to create an unlimited energy source that could be synthesized once from a few materials but create combustion similar to the sun that would fix the energy issue with Amestris Alchemy. They had spent weeks working on the calculations, and consulted numerous Alchemists, all of which agreed it was theoretically possible should one create the correct combination of materials.

Cyril had dubbed it Philosophers Stone 2.0, after the rumors of how vile the real Philosophers Stone was. He thought it was funny at least.

The blue energy slowly shifted to a lighter color, almost angelic in nature, and just as warming. The three slowly looked to its center, where a small, free-floating, sphere began to grow. It couldn't have been the size of a grape, but it was still progress. Stage one, complete, they've synthesized the material, stage two, begin catalyzing the energy, making it both stable and powerful. They leaned closer and put their effort into it, willing the energy to compact together.

Then the rebound began to take effect, nudging at Cyril's chest.

At first, the red was only a tint on the energy, something vague and unclear. Slowly, however, the red became the energy itself, an eye opening the center of the circle. Long, slender, black arms reached out, dismantling everything that it could touch. After the excess scrap metal had disappeared, the hands began to move to the kids operating the circle itself.

Adley was the first one to go. The hands moved around his body as his screams broke the circle's focus. His body was being broken down, slowly returning to the basic elements they came from. The hands moved up and down with the stubby fingers touching everything living on his body. His clothes remained, however, as his entire outer bodily parts was taken, leaving only a bloodstained mass of some vital organs. The hands moved to Basil, who was petrified from the sight of her brother.

Basil was quicker, barely letting out a yelp when the hands reached her. She lasted a few seconds rather then suffering. Cyril watched in horror, his mouth agape, his mind almost broken. The hands slowly turned to him and darted to his chest as his world went white.


End file.
